Relationship between internal breakdown and mineral nutrition in the flesh of ‘Keitt’ mango

Abstract

'Keitt' mango fruits with internal breakdown and healthy flesh from three different producing areas were used in a study that aims to determine the concentrations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn) and boron (B) to analyse the relationship between the internal breakdown and mineral nutrition in the flesh. A significant difference in mineral contents exists between disordered and healthy flesh. In the Renhe producing area, the N content in breakdown flesh was significantly higher, whereas the B content was significantly lower compared to the healthy flesh. However, in the Huaping and Xinping producing areas, breakdown flesh exhibited significantly higher levels of N, K, Mn, Mg and Cu and lower levels of Ca and B than healthy flesh. Flesh nutrition diagnosis showed that the absolute values of the diagnosis and recommendation integrated system of each mineral and nutrition imbalance index of internal breakdown fruits were significantly higher than that of healthy fruits in the three producing areas. A great imbalance of nutrient internal breakdown fruits, especially B deficiency, might be the cause of internal flesh breakdown in mango.